APEC Economic Leaders’ Week begins in Shenzhen on November 14 with meetings of senior officials and business representatives, according to the APEC Secretariat. It ends with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on November 19. The texts that officials are negotiating now will set the trade, connectivity and technology signals that leaders send to business for 2027.
This will be the 33rd Economic Leaders’ Meeting and China’s third time as host, after Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014. The 2026 theme is “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together,” with three priorities: openness, innovation and cooperation.
Four texts to watch
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu laid out the plan at the third Senior Officials’ Meeting on August 27. He called the Shenzhen Declaration the most important outcome of this year’s leaders’ meeting and said China would circulate a zero draft in late September. The text has not been made public.
Ma named three further areas for leaders’ outcomes. On trade, China is drafting a standalone statement on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), building on the consensus of trade ministers in May. On connectivity, China has circulated an APEC connectivity cooperation concept paper covering infrastructure, policy coordination and easier travel. On innovation, an outcome document on artificial intelligence and the digital economy will build on APEC’s Digital Week in July.
According to Ma, China had by then hosted more than 300 meetings and events in over 10 Chinese cities, with close to 7,000 delegate attendances.
Signals from the final ministerial
Foreign and trade ministers met virtually on November 3 for the 37th APEC Ministerial Meeting, co-chaired by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The APEC Secretariat reported that Wang Yi named FTAAP and stronger connectivity as the two drivers of regional economic integration.
Wang Wentao warned that “risks of industrial supply chain fragmentation are on the rise.” According to the Chinese government’s account, he said China would fully implement national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises and encourage open-source development of technologies such as AI.
At a November 3 briefing in Singapore, Carlos Kuriyama, director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, said the region’s economy is projected to grow 3.4 percent in 2026, with inflation rising to 3.2 percent. He also said economies have held FTAAP policy dialogues on trade digitalization, competition policy, state-owned enterprises, and trade and labor.
What it means for companies
APEC outcomes are not binding, but they set the direction for national regulators. Public affairs teams should watch three points: whether the FTAAP statement goes beyond past language on digital trade and state-owned enterprises; whether the AI text points toward interoperable governance or separate national approaches; and whether the connectivity paper leads to commitments on business travel and port infrastructure.
Sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China: Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu’s remarks at the opening of the third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (August 27, 2026, in Chinese)
- APEC Secretariat: APEC Advances Trade, AI Cooperation Ahead of Leaders’ Week (November 3, 2026)
- APEC: Ministers Urge Greater Openness, Connectivity Across Asia-Pacific (November 4, 2026)
- The State Council of the People’s Republic of China: China willing to work with parties for fruitful APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (November 4, 2026)
